Maintaining Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

During migration, the primary concern is to move existing data. If, for example, existing classical profit center accounting in SAP R/3 is to be mapped in future in the new SAP ERP general ledger, data from SAP R/3 table GLPCT must be transferred to totals table FAGLFLEXT in SAP ERP. To do this, it is necessary to construct the balance carryforward and transaction figures for each profit center and account without creating differences to legal reporting.For the most common tasks, SAP has identified various migration scenarios and delivers standardized procedures and program packages for these in order to support migration within a project. A questionnaire is used to identify the appropriate migration scenario before the project starts and the scenario is ordered by the customer or implementation partner.

Migration scenarios for standard tasks

The SAP migration service covers a total of five scenarios with an increasing degree of complexity:

If the customer project can be completely mapped within one of these predefined scenarios, we talk of a “service-based migration”. In all these cases, data from existing applications is transferred. The migration service offers the five scenarios at a fixed price, irrespective of the number of productive clients. In contrast, a project is referred to as “project-based” if none of the standard scenarios completely cover the requirements. The standardized migration programs can be used for individual steps, but additional consulting and programming are required.An example of project-based migration is the first-time implementation of profit center accounting. In this case, scenario 2 or 3 could certainly be used, but as no initial values are available from classical profit center accounting, additional manual activities are required to calculate this data and transfer it automatically.

Migration cockpit “guide”

A successful project must by its nature be based on a detailed concept of the new general ledger required and on migration planning. The migration service ensures the quality of data here and eliminates possible risks. For example, there are numerous checks on whether the configuration of the new general ledger was carried out correctly in accordance with the selected scenario. With the migration cockpit, SAP has created a tool that simplifies the handling of migration tasks. The activities needed for the particular scenario are structured in a suitable sequence and the migration cockpit also indicates status information and the progress of the project. In addition, it is used to manage logs, attachments and notes for an audit. The migration cockpit divides migration into six phases:

In the setup phase, the basic Customizing for the Migration Cockpit is created and verified.

The checkup phase checks the configuration of the planned, new general ledger.

In the preparation phase, the old financial year is closed, the data is verified, and the initial situation is documented.

Data transfer itself takes place in the migration phase.

In the validation phase, the transferred data is checked and documented.

The migration is concluded with the activation phase, and operational work in the new general ledger can begin.

Scenario-dependent process trees

The migration cockpit is available to SAP customers for every service-based migration as part of the chargeable services for general ledger migration. It displays predefined, scenario-dependent process trees and migration programs. For example, all activities relating to the “Document Splitting” process are hidden in the migration cockpit for scenarios 1 and 2, because these are not relevant until scenario 3.

Support from service sessions

The migration project is supported by remote service sessions. The first of these two service sessions takes place at the start of the migration project, preferably before installation of the migration cockpits. It is used to validate the migration scenario, and checks whether the migration scenario matches the configuration of the existing system and is suitable for objectives during activation of the new general ledger in SAP ERP. If segment balance sheets are to be created in the future, for example, the “Document Splitting” function must be used and migration scenario 3 ordered. Once this basic data has been ascertained, the six phases within the migration cockpit can begin.

The second service session is used to validate the migrated test data. It should take place during the migration phase and produce valid results but at the same time not be too close to actual productive migration. This ensures that there is enough time to solve any problems that might have been identified. Technical plausibility checks are carried out for the migrated test data, as well as application-specific compatibility checks for the migration scenario. If migration scenario 3 is used, for example, it must be possible to process, i.e. post, all the migrated data in a way compatible with the configured “Document Splitting” function. Business checks, such as the validation of a segmented report structure in accordance with IFRS, should be carried out by the customer or implementation partner within the scope of the user tests after test migration. The service sessions are supported by a dedicated migration back office. For the service sessions, a back-office employee either logs in to the customer’s SAP ERP production system or a copy of this for system validation, or to the migration test system for test validation. The employee extracts and analyses the necessary data, and the results are then made available to the customer in a closing report.In a feedback session, the customer and migration service employee discuss issues resulting from the report. In some cases, there may be the need for additional consulting services, which are then provided by the local SAP international subsidiary – particularly with regard to business questions on the concept and customizing for the new general ledger. A typical consulting inquiry could relate to the mapping of parallel accounting. Technical consulting services are often required for the cleanup of data inconsistencies in the system source data.